They are stacked neatly, categorized by genre and in alphabetical order, from A to Z. Already encased by their individual and colorful album covers, they are placed in sleeves to ensure they stay in pristine condition. Some date back years to their first release, and some are newer. Some are jazz. Some are soul. Some are funk. Any genre you can think of—R&B, reggae, rock, foreign, folk, indie, punk, psychedelic, alternative rock, contemporary, or country? Kevin Gary ’02 likely has a record of it.

My uncle Kevin has been collecting records for the last 20 years and has amassed quite an impressive collection, with the current number at around 5,000. Additionally, he has purchased and sold a number in the range of 10,000. As soon as you walk into his South Philadelphia row home, they do not just catch your eye; they take up half the living room. However, these records do not just showcase an extraordinary collection, but also an evolution of personality and musical taste.

Records were not Kevin’s first collection; collecting started with baseball cards and comic books. In his childhood, it was comics, from the ages of eight to 13. Later, he got into baseball cards, even though he credits that hobby to his brother, my dad, Gordon Gary ’97.

Once Kevin hit high school, things began to change. He got “really into music,” he said. “Music was my thing. [It] was something I was always interested in.” This is when a hobby began. He bought CDs and then, in college, records.

Kevin credits his parents for introducing him to records, but not because they directly did it, because “that was just how they listened to music. That was their generation.” He also noted that his friend from college, Jake, who was “really into hip-hop,” put Kevin into the real collecting world. It was around 2003 when Jake introduced him, and he started buying records in favor of CDs. He did this at first because he thought records were cheap and that it was a better deal than $20 CDs. He also thought records seemed cooler. Thus, the collection was officially born.

Now he has compiled around 5,000 records, and a couple of thousand of those are for sale. As his lot has grown, he has started to sell the records that have lost personal value. As his music taste changes, so do the records he owns.

Kevin sells records mainly on a website called Discogs, one of the internet’s biggest record-collecting sites, that provides a great place for collectors to buy, sell, and share records. He also sells them at Vinylcon, which is an event in Philadelphia, PA, that takes place twice a year.

Buying records is a completely different story. “I buy them anywhere, everywhere, anywhere there is a record, I will buy it if I want it.” He said he has bought them at record stores, thrift stores, and some more abstract places as well, like carpet stores, gas stations, car washes, and the one his wife, Erin, was quick to point out, “an ice cream store.”

Kevin doesn’t necessarily have an end goal for his collection. There isn’t a number he is chasing. He has actually decreased the number of records he owns over the last year by around 1,000. “Some days I’m like, ‘Oh man, it’d be cool to be rich and have 20,000 records, but it would be nuts. You’ll never listen to them. It’s a waste,’” he said.

He does have one thing in mind, however. When asked about opening his own record store, he said, “I think about that a lot, opening a record store, a physical one, that’s definitely the goal or a dream of mine.” With an average record store having a couple of thousand records for sale at a time, this dream could very well become a reality with the collection he has.

Kevin’s collection shows a lot about his care for music and collecting, but his wife sees it differently. She told me, “It shows Kevin’s most focused mind. He takes wonderful care of his records. Everything is accounted for. Everything is in a perfect sleeve, and it’s organized, and it shows just what he cares about.”